No apology for the shambles on Tuesday ?Nott's county game was what I would call "Amateur Night" I waited over 45 min's for our ticket's and we got to our seat's after missing the first 25 min's and 2 goals. (the second half performance matched these standards.)

IMHO This new ticket system is a disaster waiting to happen, to rely on scanners / computer program is just asking for trouble.What are they going to do when the system crashes or gets hacked ?

I was wondering this as I don't recall there being much mention of it over the Summer, can't rem seeing it in local press etc. But obviously you'd assume so, otherwise where did they all go? Maybe they were all on some sort of casual part time contracts which simply weren't renewed. Alternatively maybe now they're the elusive 'mobile' operators which are the first port of call when the system fails?

They wont have been sacked. They ask for new staff every season. They just wouldn't have hired anyone for this season.

Here's the next issue based upon Ayre talking about how ingrained are the morals and principles of Bill Shankly.

Ian Ayre, managing director, said: "The name Bill Shankly is, and always will be, synonymous with Liverpool Football Club. He laid the foundations to enable the club to grow to what it is today.

"We continue to live and breathe those values he created over 40 years ago throughout our Liverpool family and it's important that we give our fans the opportunity to celebrate this important milestone with us."

Glad this has been raised. I queued for 2 hours to collect tickets that should have been posted and can tell you there was one steward, a young lad, left to control the hundreds queing. When it was pointed out to him that the official queue was not moving while new queues formed further on he just replied that there was nothing he could do as he was on his own. Not his fault as he had no help.

Should be noted that a head steward actually appeared at one point and walked through the unofficial queue but seemed oblivious to the mess.As the game got nearer the whole thing became a mess as people realised there was no order and so jostled for position. It has to be said that the supporters were well behaved as it could easily have turned nasty with so many people trying to get to a few windows.

The stewards only appeared after kick off and even then were not much use at all.

I eventually got my tickets for me and my 7 year old twenty minutes after kick off despite queing for nearly 2 hours.We then ran to the Anfield Rd where my son's tickets got him in but mine didn't. I asked the stewards to sort it but they refused claiming there was nothing they could to and that I had to go back to the ticket office. I refused to do this and told them to sort it out as my lad was by now panicking as he was inside and I was out.

They then got a fan support person to check the tickets and she said mine was blocked and there was nothing she could do. I showed them my email with details of payment, seat numbers etc on but they weren't interested. They said they couldn't let me in because the turnstiles could not be operated by them.

I then told them to let my son out as he was very upset and said why can't I go in the gate they were letting him out. I suggested they accompany me to the seats to prove they were empty and mine but they wouldn't budge.

At this point I had to go back to the TO where I approached the head steward who told me he could do nothing as it was a TO problem. It was only at this point that a fan support fella noticed my lad in tears and told the head steward to get a steward to take us back to Anfield Rd and tell the fan support person there to override the turnstile with a masterkey.

The head steward at first said no but then relented and let a steward take us there. We then ran to the other end of the gorund where the fan support person let us in no questions asked. The same fan support person who'd said no ten minutes ealier.

I have detailed all this in a letter to the club but as of now have not received so much as an aknowledgment that they are doing anything.Despite the hassle and upset caused my main consern was that the club left one inexperienced steward to look after hundreds of people queing to get to too few windows. This was a major saftey concern and one our club should have been in control of.

Apart from the fan support fella who sorted it out I have to say the rest of the people I encountered that day useless. My lad doesn't want to go again and despite me going since 1973 I am of the same opinion.

Having only now read the response of Ged Poynton I am even more angry than I was on Tuesday night. If he was the head steward I encountered then I can attest that he walked through the crowds about half an hour before kick off and if he couldn't see problems there then he should be removed from his position.

PMd mate

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Scouse an proud.Liverpool fc is my life.My second home is where i sleep.

"I haven't got a clue." 23/03/2020......Mo Money, Mo Problems to invent. Number 1 is Carragher. Number 2 is Carragher. Number 3 is Carragher. Number 4 is Carragher. Likes to play God in his spare time.

They wont have been sacked. They ask for new staff every season. They just wouldn't have hired anyone for this season.

We have just loaned them out for the season with the other Club picking up 50% of their wages.

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One thing does need to be said: in the post-Benitez era, there was media-led clamour (but also some politicking going on at the club) to make the club more English; the idea being that the club had lost the very essence of what it means to be ‘Liverpool’. Guillem Ballague 18/11/10

If Ged Poynton, or anyone else, had got down off their high horse and talked to supporters and stewards, instead of trying to shift blame and hope everything will sort itself out, they might have begun to address the ongoing issues that their statements thus far have spectacularly missed.

After talking to a few people and thinking over what happened to me, there's a particular issue with turnstile blocks B & E at the Kop end and it's one that the club still hasn't acknowledged - we've christened it "the missed click".

In the two main entrances to The Kop, turnstiles B1-7 & E1-7, the card reader is one or two steps back from the actual turnstile. What has always happened with these turnstiles is still happening. It needs to lock after the person in front goes through before you scan your card. If it hasn't locked and you scan your card, it then locks when you push it to get through and, even though you are still on the outside, it counts you as having gone through before it locked.

In the past the turnstile operator would ask you to not push while he manually released the lock. People who use these entrances might remember that this used to happen quite often. The problem now is that there is nobody on those turnstiles with the ability/authority to see the green light, see what's happened & unlock the turnstile to let you through. In order to be sure of getting in now, you need to step forward and push the turnstile to make sure it's locked after the person in front of you is through, then step back & scan your card.

The computer has been applied to an ancient system that doesn't automatically move the turnstile through to a locked position before accepting the next scan and allowing the next person to pass through. Theses turnstiles rely on being manually pushed into a locked position after each person passes through them. Think of all the away grounds with more modern automated turnstiles, or even Merseyrail at Central & Moorfields, the turnstile automatically locks behind you. This doesn't happen with the turnstiles on blocks B & E and the turnstile is bit too far forward from the card reader for you to just push it and make sure it's locked before you scan your card.

So, repeating myself a bit here, if the turnstile hasn't been locked by the momentum of the person in front of you going through, then you scan your card, the computer assumes that you are in the unlocked turnstile and, when you push it to go through, you lock yourself out with the computer showing that you are in the ground. Then it's off to find a Fan Support steward to re-scan your card and hope that someone from the computer support crew is around & willing to push to the front of a queue to use the over ride card and get you in.

I'd hazard a guess that those two turnstile blocks are the original "full height" turnstiles installed in the old Kop in 1976 and retained when the stand was rebuilt. If anybody knows for sure, please let us know.

Anyway. Please don't forget to email Graham Smith at admin@spiritofshankly.com with any experiences or insights you have that may help us to avoid any issues at the Man United game.

Just another insight from Tuesday night. I also had to queue to collect tickets as they failed to show up in the post. What more concerned me personally though however was upon gaining entry to the ground (albeit 20 minutes late) there was somebody else stood in front of the seats me and my mate were assigned in 306. I asked the guy to have a look and compare his ticket to make sure one of us hadn't made a mistake, but no we really did have identical tickets. I didn't make anything of it as we were already so late, and the Kop wasn't full so me and my pal just went and stood in front of a couple of other seats on the row behind. In hindsight though if something like this were to happen on Sunday at a game that is sold out this would cause massive problems and it is very concerning to think about. I Will right to the club to let them know in the next few days but I'm really not sure writing is ever worth it to be honest.

C'mon Graham, this is an apology from the organisation. To expect anything else is unreasonable and naive. One hopes that Mr Poynton has had a thoroughly uncomfortable day at the office but collective responsibility applies here and any organisation that would publicly hang their own staff out to dry in the manner you seem to be hoping for would not be one I would ever wish to work for.

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Tweeting shit about LFC @kevhowson Tweeting shit about music @GigMonkey2Bill Shankly - 'The socialism I believe in is not really politics; it is humanity, a way of living and sharing the rewards'

C'mon Graham, this is an apology from the organisation. To expect anything else is unreasonable and naive. One hopes that Mr Poynton has had a thoroughly uncomfortable day at the office but collective responsibility applies here and any organisation that would publicly hang their own staff out to dry in the manner you seem to be hoping for would not be one I would ever wish to work for.

The point I was making was that the original Supporter Committee minutes named him specifically, the subsequent press release merely labelled him as 'a member of staff' when he's the most senior person charged with looking after supporter welfare and safety.

Glad this is being taken to task. Thought it was just "one of those things" but at the time i thought, wtf is going on!!! I got to the ground at about 7.20, usual drill, thinking i'd be ok to walk straight in, and then stood in a queue at turnstile D of the Kop for 20 mins. Thankfully i made it in on time (just) but clearly many didnt. I wasnt overly bothered like but my missus was gutted as she had never done the massive flag-over-the-head thing on the Kop, and just as we emerged at the top of the stairs at the back of the Kop, there it was going over the block 306 entrance!

The point I was making was that the original Supporter Committee minutes named him specifically, the subsequent press release merely labelled him as 'a member of staff' when he's the most senior person charged with looking after supporter welfare and safety.

It was a massive closing of ranks.

Which, for something like this is how it should be. Corporate responsibility.

If he has not been given a serious warning about his future conduct then I will be both surprised and disappointed.

I am not defending Poynton here just pointing out how companies do, and should, operate.

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Tweeting shit about LFC @kevhowson Tweeting shit about music @GigMonkey2Bill Shankly - 'The socialism I believe in is not really politics; it is humanity, a way of living and sharing the rewards'

LFC Free Customer Service Msg: Man Utd, Sunday 1:30pm. New access turnstiles at Anfield. Please allow time to travel. See www.Liverpoolfc.com for info.

....and then you go onto the website and there's nothing there, no news item, special feature, anything to even try and supposedly 'educate' those going to the game. If it's there, you have to go digging for it.

Got the same text.One improvement I noticed on Tuesday as opposed to the stoke game was that the stewards outside each turnstile were making sure people were through before the next person went in, avoiding potential for that 'phantom click' mentioned before (which I saw so many times while waiting to get in v stoke.

Yes, get in there early. Why?... there is a mosaic and an atmosphere to witness, enjoy and be part of it.

On a personal note - Jonnyciggies; I agree and more importantly I have to say - stop watching in the shadows(you right fuckin Hanker) and post. Unless there is more than one person with dual accounts?................ You're not that Gkrstavross bloke by any chance are you?.... Best blag since Keith Chegwin played off that he was straight by marrying Maggie Philbin, if you are...

VdM is 100% correct on this Graham, but you'd surely know that working in a legal background.

Nothing to do with legal background.

Poynton is our most senior staff member charged with safety and particularly getting everyone in to the ground.

I agree that the lad sacked (or who has resigned, but I think sacked) for Tweetgate today wouldn't be asked to come out and apologise, but in my view our most senior safety person can't just sit behind a corporate regret.

Especially with his track record of disdain for our support, ironically he sees us as getting in the way of things, not the point of it all. And I say that from dealing with him personally.

Poynton is our most senior staff member charged with safety and particularly getting everyone in to the ground.

I agree that the lad sacked (or who has resigned, but I think sacked) for Tweetgate today wouldn't be asked to come out and apologise, but in my view our most senior safety person can't just sit behind a corporate regret.

Especially with his track record of disdain for our support, ironically he sees us as getting in the way of things, not the point of it all. And I say that from dealing with him personally.

You're conflating two different things there though Graham.

1. Should LFC have hung a staff member out to dry?

No.

2. Given Poynton's attitude to his customers and the increasingly customer facing nature of his role. Is he up to the job?

Probably not but that is a totally different question.

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Tweeting shit about LFC @kevhowson Tweeting shit about music @GigMonkey2Bill Shankly - 'The socialism I believe in is not really politics; it is humanity, a way of living and sharing the rewards'

Poynton is our most senior staff member charged with safety and particularly getting everyone in to the ground.

I agree that the lad sacked (or who has resigned, but I think sacked) for Tweetgate today wouldn't be asked to come out and apologise, but in my view our most senior safety person can't just sit behind a corporate regret.

Especially with his track record of disdain for our support, ironically he sees us as getting in the way of things, not the point of it all. And I say that from dealing with him personally.

VdM's reply is correct again Graham, I'm pointing out that you, personally, are suggesting that the club hold Poynton to account publicly while you hold the knowledge that an organisation just doesn't do that. You know that, don't you?

VdM's reply is correct again Graham, I'm pointing out that you, personally, are suggesting that the club hold Poynton to account publicly while you hold the knowledge that an organisation just doesn't do that. You know that, don't you?

VdM may well be correct. But football organisations do hold employee's to account publically. They do it with managers and coaching staff so why not incompetent employees like Poynton who, lets face it has been getting away with it for years. His conduct, on behalf of the club, in the aftermath of what happened is the issue here. It's about time he was called to account. Suppose he's the next one for a nice big pay off citing 'family reasons'.

« Last Edit: August 31, 2013, 01:22:49 AM by vivabobbygraham »

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...If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same

Big fuck off problems for a lot of people today. Mainly the fellas with the silver members cards(season tickets i presume? Dunno never had one) Well i use a fancard so sit in a different seat every game which means i have to go to the fellas with the PDA's to get my seat printed off. Theres usually enough of them but today they were all dealing with the season tickets. This caused huge queues then and a lot of anger outside the ground from some

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We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey - Kenji Miyazawa

Big fuck off problems for a lot of people today. Mainly the fellas with the silver members cards(season tickets i presume? Dunno never had one) Well i use a fancard so sit in a different seat every game which means i have to go to the fellas with the PDA's to get my seat printed off. Theres usually enough of them but today they were all dealing with the season tickets. This caused huge queues then and a lot of anger outside the ground from some